Dodgers Have A Tough Act To Follow

by Eric Stephen on Aug 7, 2009 4:00 PM PDT in Game Previews Comment 37 comments

More photos » by Lori Shepler - AP

Mr. Walkoff struck again Thursday night for the Dodgers

Can the Dodgers follow Andre Ethier's walk-off heroics last night with a victory tonight? There have been ten previous walk-off wins for the Dodgers, and they are 5-5 the next game. Two of the wins (May 2 and June 6) were yet another walk-off.

Tonight's pitching matchup is a rematch of Sunday night's contest in Atlanta: Chad Billingsley vs. Jair Jurrjens. The Dodgers won that game 9-1, but Billingsley was forced to leave early with a right leg cramp. Although not necessarily planned, Billingsley's right arm may have received some added rest over the last few weeks. His last four starts represent his four lowest pitch counts of the season.

Earlier today, we looked at how the Dodgers fared over the first two-thirds of the season. Through those first 108 games (game 109 was Thursday night), 24-year old Matt Kemp was on pace for 95 runs and 104 RBI. In all of Dodger history, here are the seasons by a Dodger 24 or younger with at least 90 runs and 90 RBI:

Player	Age	Year	Runs	RBI
Oyster Burns	24	1889	105	100
Jimmy Sheckard	22	1901	116	104
Duke Snider	22	1949	100	92
Duke Sinder	23	1950	109	107
Duke Snider	24	1951	96	101
Tommy Davis	23	1962	120	153

Just by being mentioned with Duke Snider, Kemp must be doing something right.

One player the Dodgers missed in Atlanta was Braves' shortstop Yunel Escobar. He is back healthy again, and even had a double and a walk in the series opener last night. Escobar was rumored to be in a potential offseason trade for Jake Peavy, and its probably a good thing the Dodgers won't have to face Escobar 19 time per season. The 26-year old is hitting .305/.368/.466 this season, good for a 120 OPS+, and a .362 wOBA. Escobar ranks sixth among MLB shortstops in Wins Above Replacement (WAR).

Thirty years ago today, Manny Mota tied Smoky Burgess' record for career pinch hits. Pinch hitting for Ken Brett, Mota singled off Joe Sambito of the Astros for his 144th career pinch hit. The eighth inning single was part of a rally that saw the Dodgers turn an 8-4 deficit into a 10-8 win. The 41-year old Mota hit .357/.400/.357 in 47 plate appearances for the Dodgers in 1979. All 15 of his hits that year were singles, tied for the seventh most hits ever by a Dodger with no extra-base hits.

Get your guesses in for "Just A Bit Outside" here.

Game Time: 7:10pm

TV: Prime Ticket

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Lineups

Dodgers
Furcal, SS
Ethier, RF
Manny, LF
Blake, 3B
Loney, 1B
Kemp, CF
Martin, C
Hudson, 2B
Bills P

Braves
McLouth CF
Prado 2B
Chipper 3B
McCann C
Anderson LF
Escobar SS
LaRoche 1B
Church RF
Jurrjens P

by Eric Stephen on Aug 7, 2009 4:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

it looks like the giants claim alex rios… they have improved their offense the past few weeks

by matthewmafa on Aug 7, 2009 4:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

20 minutes ago, Henry Schulman of the SF Chronicle said it was unlikely the Giants claimed Rios.

by Eric Stephen on Aug 7, 2009 4:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

What if we claimed him? :)

And Ethier scoots over to 1st base. No? Maybe?

by silverwidow on Aug 7, 2009 4:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

oh really

lol i just read an article that said they did.. it was probably a lie then

by matthewmafa on Aug 7, 2009 4:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i think seattle claimed rios

they might have

by matthewmafa on Aug 7, 2009 4:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

OMG, the Yankees claimed Kershaw!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, not really. But then again, maybe they did.

by silverwidow on Aug 7, 2009 4:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I think every once in a while, someone like Kershaw should be put in waivers, just as an exercise to gauge the other GMs. If anything less than 29 claims come in for him, you try to work other deals with the GM or GMs that didn’t claim him. :)

by Eric Stephen on Aug 7, 2009 4:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Doesn't the worst team in the league get first crack at him?

So I guess the Nats grabbed him. Imagine Strasburg AND Kershaw??

by silverwidow on Aug 7, 2009 4:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

They place a player on waivers, and there is a period (not sure how long, maybe 48 hours) when everyone puts in claims. Then it is determined if multiple claims were made which team gets him.

by Eric Stephen on Aug 7, 2009 4:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Assuming they sign Stasburg :)

by Eric Stephen on Aug 7, 2009 4:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

missing an R there

by Eric Stephen on Aug 7, 2009 4:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

strasburg and kershaw would have been the number 1 and 2 picks this year

had kershaw went to college

by matthewmafa on Aug 7, 2009 4:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Aaron miller pitching for Great Lakes right now

1 innings so far 0 hits 0 walks 1k

by matthewmafa on Aug 7, 2009 4:24 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

2 perfect innings so far for miller

4 groundball outs to the left side and 2 strikeouts

by matthewmafa on Aug 7, 2009 4:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m way too anxious for the other half of the Abreu transaction. It pretty much has to relate to Schmidt, but I’m building this up in my mind like the dunk over Lebron video.

by Eric Stephen on Aug 7, 2009 4:27 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Seriously, maybe someone claimed a Dodger

by silverwidow on Aug 7, 2009 4:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Abreu is not on the 40 man right?

I guess there is a small chance it doesn’t involve Schmidt. Abreu is placed on 40 man which was vacated by unloading Vargas and McDonald or Elbert is sent down to make space.

by mwhite06 on Aug 7, 2009 4:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, he is actually

by silverwidow on Aug 7, 2009 4:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh okay

so in that case Abreu can simply be moved to the 25 man by sending down McDonald or Elbert.

Not necessarily a reason Schidt has to be linked then.

by mwhite06 on Aug 7, 2009 4:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

See quote below

by Eric Stephen on Aug 7, 2009 4:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Schidt

I like it :)

by silverwidow on Aug 7, 2009 4:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The reason I think it is about Schmidt (heh) is because of this quote from Rawitch:

Not sure if the other half of the move is public yet, so I’ll refrain from posting here but I’m sure it’ll be in the news shortly.

by Eric Stephen on Aug 7, 2009 4:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

…and I’m probably reading way too much into the quote, but sending J-Mac or Elbert down doesn’t strike me as “news.”

by Eric Stephen on Aug 7, 2009 4:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

No it doesn't

And it makes sense. You won’t need Stults till Monday for his start. So in the meantime, it makes sense to remove Schidt from the 25 man while still keeping your full stable of bullpen pitchers through the weekend.

by mwhite06 on Aug 7, 2009 4:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Vicente Padilla

Has been DFA. He would be a pretty good 5th starter for the dodgers

by matthewmafa on Aug 7, 2009 4:49 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Doesn't he have/had Swine Flu?

by silverwidow on Aug 7, 2009 4:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He would be better than Schmidt, but I don’t think he’s any better than Stults, or Elbert or McDonald at this point.

by Eric Stephen on Aug 7, 2009 4:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Great Lakes Announcer just said that

Nate Eovaldi and Ethan Martin will only throw 3 innings every time they start for the rest of the season to keep their innings down in case they make the playoffs.

Also Aaron Miller 1st round pick in 09 goes 5 innings 3 hits 0 runs 6 Ks and he had 0 walks… only 62 pitches. Great start for him

by matthewmafa on Aug 7, 2009 5:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs